When Walter and Margaret Watson opened Birchwood Cottage Tearoom and Gallery from their Balmungo home eight years ago, they couldn’t have imagined generating thousands of pounds for charity.
Since establishing Birchwood Cottage in 2013, the couple – both in their mid-seventies – have donated more than £170,000 to their chosen organisations.
After self-taught artist Walter took ill unexpectedly in September, the couple were forced to close temporarily while he recuperated.
Now, as they prepare to reopen their tearoom, gallery and gift shop from Friday (November 5), they have thanked friends and customers for their well-wishes, cards and flowers.
Birchwood Cottage is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm. And they have been sprucing the place up in time for Christmas.
Operating the tearoom, gallery and gift shop from the ground floor of their home, they raise funds by selling food and beverages, gifts and Walter’s original art.
Tearoom profits for charity
Margaret explained: “We come from the West Coast and retired up to St Andrews. We originally stayed in the main town and Walter was painting at that time.
“Basically, his pictures were being sold off the front door, so we thought we’d open a wee gallery. Our house was too small, so when this place came on the market, we bought it.”
Take a look around the venue…
The couple created an extension upstairs and they live in this part of the property while the gallery and tearoom are located downstairs.
She added: “To encourage people to come into the gallery, we decided to have a tearoom as well. And all the profits from the tearoom would go to charity. It just evolved from there.
“Originally our charities were the Children’s Hospice and Mary’s Meals but now we just raise for Mary’s Meals, as CHAS gets quite a lot of money from the government.
“We’ve got a wide range of things we sell in the tearoom. It’s mainly cakes, biscuits and scones and we also do soups at lunchtime.”
Supporting Mary’s Meals
Scottish charity Mary’s Meals provides chronically hungry school children with one meal every school day, encouraging education that can lift them out of poverty in later life.
The charity operates in some of the world’s poorest countries and it aims to feed two million children daily.
Margaret added: “All the profits from the tearoom and the gift shop go to charity, and everything Walter makes from the paintings goes to charity – he doesn’t take anything at all.
“We’ve got enough money to live on – we don’t need extra. Walter loves painting and I enjoy the baking. We enjoy doing it, and other people are benefitting from it.”
The couple normally open from April to December each year, but were closed for the whole of 2020 due to the pandemic. They finally opened their doors again in June.
During lockdown, Walter sold his art online to keep the fundraising going. He paints landscapes and nature scenes of Scotland as well as further afield.
Thanks to “superb” Ninewells
In late September, Walter took ill at home and was treated at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. The couple paused their charity work while he recovered.
Back with his trusty paintbrushes in hand, Walter has expressed his gratitude to A&E, the resuscitation team, the cath lab teams and all the staff in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU).
He said: “We both worked in the NHS for over 30 years and I just painted on and off – it was just a hobby. Since we retired I paint more or less every day.
“Mary’s Meals is a really good charity. We found a good one and stuck with it.”
